Halloween - Mario Brothers Style!

Samantha as Luigi, Nicole as Snow White

Mario and Wario - making peace for just one night of candy

Mario and Luigi from behind.

Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi

I actually have quite a few older pictures that I need to post, but I'm still in the Halloween mood and thought I'd post these pictures now.

Helping those who help us!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to a couple of people and their businesses who have helped us lately.......

Our realtor Chad Holmes has been fantastic so far!! He even offered to sell his body to get us into a house we wanted!! Okay, maybe I told him to do that, but he'll go just about that far! He is quick to respond, helpful, kind, knowledgeable, and easy-going! We are quite confident that he will help us find a great home at a great price! Here is a link to his site.

Also, we had the carpets cleaned in our townhome before we moved out and they looked great! The owner, Kyle Quist, even worked extra hard to get out a couple of stains FOR FREE!! One stain involving a certain sleeping husband and 2 children and a tub of vaseline! You can reach Kyle at Roswell Carpet Cleaning at 801-362-1653.

The new temporary home

Well, I just got the kids settled into their new beds for the next few months!!  Neither was too happy about it and both have claimed so far to be scared.  I know it is tough to get used to sleeping in a new bed and a new house, but I am sure after a couple of nights they will be just fine.  It has been a rough and tumble couple of days of moving and packing and packing and moving and a fun night at Grammy and Grampys, but hopefully we can get back in the groove soon!!  Samantha sounded quite pleased that she is going to school tomorrow. I think the norm will feel good to her.  The kids really are doing as well as can be expected.  And I am too I think!  We are still on a mad hunt to find a new house and have a few homes lined up to see this week and offers in on 3 homes.  We hope something sticks soon!!  And I'm sure my in-laws do as well!!!  And a big THANK YOU to the best in-laws in the world for letting us use their house!  Love you guys!

Last Night!

Tonight is our last night in this house!! I have mixed emotions......I'm sad because this was our first REAL family home and my kids were still very little when we moved here......but I'm also excited to see what the future holds for us! It feels right to move now, it feels like it's time. We don't have a new home yet (we are searching like crazy!!) so we will be staying at Andy's parents Orem home for now. Thank you to them for letting us stay there! Andy will be closer to work but I will be driving back and forth A LOT from Orem to Pleasant Grove in order to keep the kids in their same schools. Which, I think, is worth it. Samantha and Alex love their teachers and schools and Alex has a couple of great speech teachers that we want to keep going to.
I am trying to bribe the kids into taking a nap today so we can stay up late, eat ice cream and watch a movie for the last night in our home! We'll see if they do it or not!!!
My family is coming over tomorrow to help move the big stuff to the storage unit then we will be staying at my parents Saturday night (which the kids are over the moon about!). Sunday afternoon we'll be getting settled in the Orem home and life will resume as normal as possible on Monday!! We've been married 7 years and moved 4 times! I hope this next move will be the last for a while. Though I'm not really counting on it!! ;-)

I WANT THIS PUPPY!!!!!

Ridiculous Engineering Skills

I'm sure most of you will be shocked when I confess to being a total geek. Go ahead - take a minute to recover.

Back now? Ok. You have to watch this, at least the first minute or so. Even if you never played with Legos as a kid, you'll have to admit this is amazing.

N to the J

View off my balcony in Jersey City......that's the Statue of Liberty way in the back.

Random picture of me on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum.

I can't believe I've been back in Utah for 3 years!! I am missing New Jersey tonight. I miss it quite often actually. Living there was a pain!! Nothing was easy....not the driving, the roads, the stores, getting to work, NOTHING!! But it sure did have a lot of character. And I miss some friends and neighbors from both Jersey City and Woodbridge. I miss my view of NYC. When I got on the airplane at midnight with my 2 kids and my parents to fly to Utah - I sobbed and sobbed. I don't miss flying in and out of JFK (what a rotten airport). I miss flying in and out of Newark (what a ghetto fabulous airport!). I am grateful to be back living near family. I especially love being near my niece and nephews. They are my favorite part of Utah! And I can't wait for another one to join us in 2010!! Abby? TB? We'll have to wait and see!

Monsters vs. Prophets

I wanted to jot this down before I forgot it, because it was funny!!!
The other night before bed Alex was praying and he blessed President Monster. Not President Monson, but Monster. There seems to never be a night where the kids pray that Andy and I don't end up cracking up and having to keep the laughing under control! I love it!

We have seen a lot of houses lately!! In fact, today is the only day in the past maybe 2 weeks that we don't have an appointment to go in a house or a plan to drive by some houses. The kids are excited!! Instead, we get to pack! Lucky us. The kids have been really good and patient with all of it though and whenever we meet a realtor at a house they don't even hesitate to say, "Hi, I'm Alex, I'm 4 years-old. Hi, I'm Samantha, I'm 5 years-old.". You can tell which questions they get asked every time!! Right now, as far as the house hunt goes, we are leaning towards having a home built for us in Lehi. We like the homes and the area and we feel good about it. We are going to their design center tomorrow to see if we can actually afford the house we want with the upgrades we'll want. I'm crossing my fingers! We'll keep you updated and I need to post pictures from our pumpkin picking as well. Sigh....too much to do!!

Some amusement for your day

From the "Way Too Much Time On Their Hands" file.

Stress comin' at ya!

Wow, I'm stressed these days! We sold the house and are in full packing mode. The house is a wreck with boxes stacked everywhere which, because I'm a bit OCD, causes me major stress. The kids are starting to show signs of stress as well as their lives are being rearranged and THAT causes ME a ton of stress. I still have my bloody Independent Study course to finish by January that is a thorn in my side. We are trying so hard to find a new home and it just isn't coming quite as easily as I had hoped. We are so lucky to have a great home to move into while we look for a new place, but it is always difficult to live in a home that isn't your own. I am going to be so paranoid about the kids ruining things and sleeping in the same room. I doubt they'll get a whole lot of sleep at first which is going to make life SO fun. I will be taking the kids to their current schools so I don't have to uproot them from that part of their life which is going to mean A LOT of back and forth travel for me!! It will be worth it to have them in their same schools, but wow, we're going to go through a lot of gas!!

My body has a terrific way of handling stress that I just love. Of course the zits pop out in generous numbers, but I can handle that. The worst part is that I get cankers in my mouth by the dozens!!! A couple of weeks before my wedding I had a canker in my mouth that was so enormous I couldn't eat or talk. It was excruciating. I ended up going to the doctor for it and he gave me some anti-viral pills and some cream. I still use the cream every time I get a canker and, thankfully, it works wonders. If only it could stop the cankers from forming....

I'm not really trying to complain or get any sympathy (we did do this to ourselves, by the way), but I just want to have the memories of the stress so I can look back when we are settled into our new, beautiful home and say, "We did it! We made it, and it wasn't as bad as I remember! And best of all....it was worth it!!". Oh boy I hope I say those words!!!

Why I really don't like to shop at Walmart

'Nuff said

www.peopleofwalmart.com

Just your random update

I know that I've mentioned it on my Facebook page, but I don't think I mentioned it on the blog yet......we sold our house!! We were able to do it without the help of our realtor so he released us from our contract and now we don't have to pay commission! Yeah for us! We got a pretty decent price out of it and are still left with a good amount of equity to put towards our new home. We think we are probably going to close the end of October and move out shortly thereafter. Andy's parents have been kind enough to offer their house for us to live in while we search for a new home. Which, by the way, there are a TON of great homes out there for a great price! We have a huge list to drive by, check out the neighborhood and decide if we want to see the inside. There is one in particular right now that we fancy in Orem. It is so close to Andy's work he could WALK to work everyday!!! It's a big older (built in 1991) but the landscaping is beautiful, the neighborhood is great and the kitchen is all remodeled and lovely. We should be going to see the inside hopefully on Saturday.

Kids are doing great in school. Samantha's writing is improving and so are her pictures. She loves her teacher and has made some good friends. Alex is such a boy and just sort of shrugs his shoulders about school. He could take it or leave it. But as far as I know, he is doing well.

Andy works. And flies on airplanes.

My cookie business has decided to suddenly take off!!! Which is so terrific and great, but horrible timing! I am supposed to start packing but instead I'm always baking! (Don't let that fact deter you from making an order though, my friends!!) I really appreciate everyone who has helped support me and placed an order. It's the best way for me to perfect my recipes and get a process in place. I have so many cookies to make on Monday that I have recruited my mom to come and entertain Alex so I can spend the whole morning baking!! Bless your heart mom! I'll pay ya!

I got to spend some time with my sweet nephew Caleb today. He made my day beautiful!
And here are the crazy kids after their last soccer game when they received their medals. So adorable!

Hewwo???

I've decided that everyone has stopped reading my blog since NO ONE commented on my previous post and how dern cute my kids are!! If you aren't going to comment on that, you must not be there! Good thing this blog serves mostly as a journal for my family so I'll keep posting whether anyone else is reading or not! It's all good!

Birthday photo shoot

Every year I have the kids birthday pictures taken in August - right between their birthdays. So, this is Samantha's 5 year pictures and Alex's 4 year pictures. My sister Richele took these pictures in Santaquin and I am very happy with how they turned out! I think I have the cutest kids in the world!!! Thanks Richele for all your hard work with these pictures. You are getting very good at this!!!

Saving the world

Samantha told me today, "Mom, I'm glad that we recycle.". How cute is that?? It really has cut our trash in HALF by recycling newspaper, cans, plastic, and bottles. We have a recycling dumpster right in our cul-de-sac which makes it so easy to help save the world!! And since my husband is a tree hugger from California, he feels much better now that we can recycle. It has been weighing on his mind since we stopped recycling in Jersey City.

I just got an order for 6 dozen cookies for tomorrow! AND, 3 dozen for next week to ship to New York City! My house is going to smell cookielicious.

Happy Birthday Alex!

You turn 4 years old today Alex!!! It is really hard for me to believe! I feels like yesterday we moved back to Utah, you had just turned 1 and loved exploring our new house. The stairs were all new and after one tumble down them you quickly learned to go down backwards instead of stepping straight down. Now we are close to selling this home and it makes me sad to think that our "first home" will belong to someone else. To me, this is the home that you really grew up in. You were a tiny baby in New Jersey, but you became a toddler, and now a preschooler, in this home. I will always love this home for those memories.

Four years ago we were staying at Grammy and Grampy's house waiting for the phone call that you were born. I answered the telephone and heard you crying in the background!! What a glorious sound that was! It also made me want to throw up a little bit (bad memories of your sister as a newborn!). I was so excited to have a little boy and I felt like your mother from the moment I laid eyes on you! It took a little while to feel like Samantha's mommy since being a mom and adoption were so new to me, but having been through it once I instantly felt like YOUR mom when I saw you. You also kind of startled me!! For some reason I thought you were going to be the darkest of the bunch. I expected dark brown hair and brown eyes. Instead, this heavenly little face with blue eyes and blonde hair stared up at me!! WHAT??? Over the years your hair has gotten darker, but your eyes are still as blue and, truth be told, they MELT me! There is something special about the mommy/son relationship and ours is no exception. I know without a doubt that you adore me and I am quite certain you know how much I adore you! We are best friends! I always ask you if you are going to love me and be my best friend even when you are older and you always reply YES with a big hug around my neck! I pray that is true!

You are also a pretty stubborn little stink sometimes! You like to be dramatic (shocker, I know) and throw yourself on the ground when you don't get what you want, but once you've settled down and ask me to sit on the couch with you, I forget all about the tantrum as you snuggle into my arm and I kiss the top of your head. I like to call you Dennis the Menace sometimes because you just CAN NOT resist touching things you shouldn't and tearing things apart!! Just this morning I spent about 30 minutes putting together your Hot Wheels Shark Park toy only to have you tear it all apart after about an hour. I'm hoping that your fascination with tearing things apart will lead you to wondering how they get put back together and you have a successful, great career as an engineer or something!!! A mother's dream I suppose! I think you are such a smart little fella and I know that you will do well in whatever interests you. You are not a quitter and that will take you a long way in this life!!!

I just love you to pieces, Alex!!! I am so proud of you and so happy that we are blessed to be your parents! You have challenged us in so many ways and yet brought us so much happiness. Happy Birthday Baby!

Busted!

Andy just caught Samantha laying flat on her back in the bathtub swishing her body back and forth singing, "I am a mermaid, I am a mermaid, I am a mermaid!". She had her eyes closed so she didn't see him there for a while until he kicked the tub and she opened her eyes and screamed. Love that kid!

Thank ya Brooke!

My very first shout out for krandy's sweet co. occurred right HERE!! Thank you Brooke for trying the cookies and posting about them. Let's hope it drums up a bit of business!

I miss these little faces SO badly some days.

Samantha - 18 months, Alex - 4 months

Attempting smooth speech

Alex started a new speech class today at Samantha's elementary school. He has been in a different speech class for about 5 months now, but now that it is the start of the school year he is beginning class through the school district. I like this one because it is free, but it is also only 20 minutes instead of 30. I think I am going to double up for a while and see how it goes. I think the poor guy is always going to struggle with some stuttering, but he really does a good job of controlling it when he thinks about it. He's just so dang cute and so willing to try and he never gives up! I ADORE him for that. We also are working on his th sounds and his s sounds, but he is still a little young for those so I think they will come to him later. He really is a champ and has improved greatly in the past few months so I am not too worried.

List of things that tick me off......

1. The idiotic mothers and all their giant Mormon Assault Vehicles attempting to drop their kids off at Kindergarten. You just open the door, shove the kid out, and drive off!! It's that simple ladies!!!!

2. How difficult is it to wipe off the gym equipment when you use it?? No one wants their sweat mingling with your sweat! Grab a paper towel, spray it with disinfectant, and wipe!!

3. Why do I have such wonderfully wide child baring hips when I can't even bare children??? What a waste!

4. Bad breath

5. Children who have to be told 10 times to do something.

6. People trying to get me to play Mafia Wars on Facebook. STOP!!!!

7. Pizza with hardly any cheese.

8. Pizza with too much red sauce.

9. The wind ruining a perfectly good hair day.

10. Food commercials when you are trying NOT to think about food. OR, food commercials when you are deathly ill and want to puke.

Randomness

I just haven't been able to think of anything good or interesting to blog about lately! Not that my usual posts are super stimulating, but there just hasn't been a lot going on. I take that back.....there HAS been a lot going on, in fact, I've never been busier!! It's all been mundane stuff, but I'm going to blog about it anyways!

Andy and I are in a weight loss challenge with each other for the month of September. Whoever has the highest percentage of weight loss will be the winner and receive a FREE Saturday to do whatever they choose!! It could be time alone, spa appointment, out to lunch, time with family, whatever!! And I'm quite certain I am going to win, so I see a massage in my future!!

Samantha and Alex are doing fantastic at school. They both love their teachers but don't talk too much about friends.....not sure why since they are usually first at making friends, but I'm not worried. They probably just don't know the kids' names!!

I am about at my midterm for my independent study course and I extended the class for another 3 months which should give Andy and I plenty of time to finish. That's right, I said Andy and I. I am doing most of the work, he is just here to make sure I do it correctly! I can't wait to have this class over with!!!

We have had 2 people come and look at the house, but no one seems to be serious about it. We aren't in any rush so it really isn't a big deal. We still have no idea what direction we are going to take for our future, so we are just living day by day for now.

The novelty of Andy being out of school STILL hasn't worn off!! Woo hoo!!

Fall shows are starting this week and I am SO happy about that!!!

This Saturday I am supposed to go boating with Richele and Greg for the last time this summer (sniff, sniff). Next Saturday the whole fam damily is going to the State Fair for Alex's birthday. I can't wait to scarf down a deep fried PB&J!! I'll have to exercise super long to burn that one off! On Alex's birthday (the 22nd) we are going to see the movie "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs". I think it looks super cute!

The kids only have 2 more soccer games and I am fairly happy about that. Mostly because I love the last game where they get their medals. I teared up last year when Samantha got hers! I'm a wuss, I know!!

Andy and I already have plans for our anniversary in October......we are dropping the kids off at Grammy's for the day and then coming back home to eat horribly, watch really loud movies and chill at home all day!!! It should be very relaxing and cheap! I am looking forward to it!

Are you all sufficiently bored yet????

Sweet baby and Stinky Animals

Last night I was able to enjoy the weather and peaceful night holding my sweet baby Caleb at the Red Barn in Santaquin, and I realized I haven't posted a picture of him lately!! (We were at the Red Barn having Richele take birthday pictures of my kids and eating ice cream.) Not that most of you care about my adorable nephew, but I do and I enjoy looking at his pictures!!


We took these pictures one day when Richele and I braved Thanksgiving Point with the kids. We have never done the petting zoo there and I think the kids liked it. Alex loved feeding the animals and we even got scaredy cat Nicole to feed some and pet some. It was a fun morning.

Alex's first day of Preschool

He wasn't too pleased at first that I was taking pictures.

Then he sort of got into it with his devil look!

Of course, Samantha needed a picture of herself because we don't have NEAR enough.

And the little dude with is backpack!

Alex had his first day of preschool today and it was a piece of cake! He is attending the same preschool Samantha went to so he is very comfortable with the teacher and the surroundings. He did look slightly nervous as we were saying goodbye, but Teacher Nicole brought out some orange playdoh and Alex was pleased as punch! He was so casual about the whole thing even when I picked him up. What's the big deal, mom? It's just school!! Which, he has corrected me a couple of times....it is school, not preschool!!! Got it? He is such a handsome little man and I can't wait to see how much he grows and what he learns!

Oh, and by the way, my 2 hours of freedom were FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!! I am LOVING my life right now!!!!

Serious fun on a Sunday

Andy found this little tomato in my garden and I thought he looked like a little man with a tie or something. Yes, it's true, the two tomatoes are stuck together. All I did was add the little tepanyaki hat, Ginsu knife, and of course his winning smile!! THIS is the fun we have on Sundays in the Higham home. Now if he could just make me some sushi, we'd be in business!

Samantha's first day of Kindergarten!

She's a model, I know!

And a goofball.

Isn't that the most beautiful face you've ever seen???

Walking into class with her friend Karlee in front.

Today was Samantha's first day of Kindergarten and she was both excited and nervous! She was excited until we got there and she had to line up for class.......she wasn't quite sure where to go or what to do. Thank goodness I got to be right there and her dear teacher was also telling the kids what to do and where to go. I didn't cry when dropping her off because I knew she would have a great time and I was excited for the time with just Alex. We went swimming!! I could tell he was very much enjoying time with just mommy and, man, it was a lot easier with just one kid!!! I was excited to go pick her up from school though and hear how her day went. She had a lovely time and was excited to be a member of the "green table". Her friend Karlee is in the same class and I think that really helped with her first-day jitters. As soon as she saw Karlee she grabbed her hand and held it until it was time to go into class. Sweet little girls!!! I am so proud of Samantha and I know that she will be the queen of that class in no time!!!! Just remember to learn along with your socializing please, Samantha!!!

So artistic!

Samantha took these 2 pictures (Hello Kitty and Spiderman) and I actually really like them!! I am going to have them printed out and frame them for the kids rooms. I know they are a little blurry, but I'll just print them small and so you hopefully won't be able to notice. Talented little mite!

I'm so proud of my master of MBAs! He mastered that MBA....kicked it to the curb!

As you may well know (since it's all I have been able to talk about for some time) Andy graduated this weekend from Thunderbird with his MBA. I flew down to Arizona Thursday afternoon to meet him there and to PAR-TAY! We had a cocktail reception at the school.....which we ditched, and then a party with his 26 other EMBA classmates at a clubhouse nearby. It was good to meet all of the people he has been working with the past 18 months. They have all gotten very close and it was apparent they really enjoy each others company. Someone had a great idea to present the student's family members with a Diploma of Appreciation for supporting them during these past 18 months. So, I am now the proud owner of a degree in Master of Supporting Arts! It was very cute and well done and nice to know they appreciated the hard work WE have had to go through as well.

Friday morning we slept in, went to breakfast (Coco's!! Nummy!), came back to the hotel and went for a swim. It was nice and relaxing and we enjoyed just lazing about and talking. After our swim we went back to our room and watched TV for a bit and I took a little snooze while Andy got ready for graduation. He had to be downstairs early to get help with his robes and hat and get pictures taken. When I finally dragged my butt out of bed I got ready and met his parents downstairs. We were able to take some pictures before the ceremony started and just chat before finding our seats. The ceremony was actually quite well done and all the speakers were enjoyable. Andy's classmate that lives in Salt Lake was the best speaker and I really enjoyed what he had to say. They presented the names for gradution and each student got their name read and diploma handed and about 20 pictures taken and then it was over! After a few more pictures we went back up to the room to get changed and then left to go explore and enjoy our evening. We did a little shopping and met Andy's parents for dinner in Scottsdale before heading back to the hotel.

Unfortunately, we had to wake up and head home this morning. Andy was anxious to see his kids so we were happy about that part, but an extra day of relaxing at the pool would have been nice. Oh well!!! A big thank you to Kami, Richele, and my parents for watching the kids while I was away. I was so glad to be there and to be able to focus on Andy and his big day and I couldn't have done that with the kids there, so thank you!!

Congratulations Andy!! You are done with school now!!! Get ready for a huge Honey-Do list!!! I love you! Also, if you want to add your thoughts for our family journal, please just add on to this post. Or start a new one, whichever. You ARE the MBA graduate now so you probably know better than I do!! ;-)

Ahhhhhhh, little brothers!!!

So, here is the story behind this video: We were eating dinner and the kids decided they wanted to tell stories. If you can't understand Alex here is the gist of his story.......
There once was a little boy named Joseph Smith. When he was a little boy he had a gun shooter and he shot the bad Lamenites. Then there was a creepy spider at some point who killed either the Lamenites or Joseph Smith or someone. The End.
Next, it was Samantha's turn. But Alex translated that as it being his turn to be a pesky little brother. I have to say....the camera shaking was me laughing. I thought it was hysterical!!! At first I thought Alex's story was going to be the funniest part, but it turns out the ensuing battle for attention was the best part!!!
Enjoy a glimpse into my life!!!

Elephants

I have no right to be so excited about the birth of the baby elephant at our zoo, but I am. A new elephant!!! A baby!! At a mere 250 pounds she is the newest addition to the Hogle Zoo and I can not wait for them to put her on display! The day after she was born they had her picture in the paper and since the kids and I have been waiting for over a year and a half for her to be born, I rushed into the living room to tell the kids the baby elephant was born!! You would have thought I just told the kids that their rooms were now made of chocolate and that they never needed to sleep ever again for all the excitement that came from them!! There was screaming, there was jumping, and the kids were pretty excited too!!!
I proceeded to tell them all the facts the paper had and show them the pictures. One of the pictures had a picture with the momma elephant as well. Samantha found it HILARIOUS that the momma elephants name is Christie. Her mom and the baby elephant's mom have the same name!! What are the chances?? The kids started asking questions about the mommy and the daddy elephant and when I explained that the daddy elephant lives at a zoo far away (which brings up the question about elephant artificial insemenation.........nevermind.....ew) the kids thought that was very curious. I explained that the mommy and baby girl were going to stay together and the daddy is going to stay at his zoo far away. My dear, sweet Samantha then exclaimed, "Well that doesn't make for a very happy family!!!!". You are EXACTLY right Samantha, which is why your daddy and mommy are going to stay together forever!!! Unless, of course, daddy finds a new, hot, young thing that doesn't walk like a cripple and leaves mommy. Then you can visit daddy at the cemetary.

I KID!!!!

House

It's been a wicked busy summer in the Higham house! I am so excited that Samantha starts school 2 weeks from today and Alex follows the next Tuesday. I think they are ready and I am DEFINITELY ready. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on blogging once things settle down. But really, is it ever going to settle down??? Probably not.

We decided to get a little more serious about selling the house and so we got a realtor on board. He finally got it listed on www.utahrealestate.com today. Here is the link. I think the pictures look great and I am excited to see if we get any hits on it!

Oh.....and also.....Andy graduates in 1 week!!!!!!!!

Wherein I use the word "ninny"

Being a wife and mother and a few pounds heavier than I was at 20 (I use the word "few" very loosely) tends to do wonderful things to the confidence you have in yourself. And by wonderful I mean TOTALLY CRUSH YOUR CONFIDENCE!!!! That being said, I noticed at the swimming pool in our hotel today that the cute teenage lifeguard was possibly checking me out!!! What??? That doesn't happen anymore! Especially in a swimming suit! So, I went on feeling a bit confident in myself for a while.......I may have even strutted a bit (of course, I WAS holding my 3 year-olds hand and heading to the kiddie pool, but logistics don't matter when you are strutting.). Then, it dawned on me!! Just a few moments earlier I had rocketed down the water-slide in such a stunning torpedo-like fashion that my swimming suit slipped.......and showed some boob. Just a bit of nip. I knew this because, a. I could feel it, and b. Andy was watching and told me he saw my ninny (then he giggled like a 10 year-old boy!)!!! Mr. Lifeguard was sitting RIGHT THERE with full view of the water-slide passengers as they exited. So I realized: cute teenage lifeguard wasn't checking me out cuz I looked good.....he was just hoping for another peep show!!!!

Farewell confidence......I barely knew thee!

FINALLY - pictures of Samantha's birthday party

Happy children eating cake and ice cream.

Beautiful birthday girl - and Clark looking confused.

Singing happy birthday.

Kids getting ready for cake.

Andy did A LOT of water balloon filling.

Water balloon fight.

Tried to play with a "hot potato" type water balloon toy...kids didn't like it.

Chillin'.

Rainbow cake.